Mo Dao Zu Shi OS: Legacy
by Scorpion-chan23
Summary: Since that fateful night at the Burial Mound, all the disciples and elders present at the Cloud Recesses knew that there was something going on with Lan Wangji. But even though everyone knew, only Lan Xichen worried enough to regularly visit his brother to try to cheer him up. Hopefully, someone else helps Lan Wangji to keep on living without his lost love.


Hey everyone! Here's my first MDZS fanfic (if you don't know Mo Dao Zu Shi and need to watch/read something new, please try watching this amazing Chinese donghua or drama/reading this amazing novel or listening to this amazing audio drama) and I decided to challenge myself by writing it in English! :) But I won't keep you any longer! I hope you'll enjoy this fanfic!

I would like to thank my dear Heleonora for beta-reading this fanfic! You're the best, chaton!

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Screams echoed in the air of the burning Burial Mounds. The smell of blood was so strong he couldn't breathe properly. He held the body against his, gently stroking _his_ long dark hair with his hand, humming a song only they knew. People were dying, the flames were burning the trees and the mountain itself, but Lan Wangji didn't move. He kept on caressing _his_ hair, forcing himself not to listen to _his_ weak protests:

-Go away…

Lan Wangji simply whispered, as if they were in a quiet room and not in the middle of Hell:

-I'll stay with you.

_He_ let out a cough and blood dripped from his lips to his chin before falling and staining Lan Wangji's white robe. But he didn't let go, didn't even shudder. Instead, he gently caressed _his_ cheeks, putting strands of hair away from _his_ bloody and sweaty face. The breath in his neck weakened,_ his_ hand grabbed Lan Wangji's blood-stained robe and a pained cry escaped _his_ lips:

-Lan Zhan…

-I'm here. I'm with you. Everything will be fine now.

_His_ chest rose painfully and a tear rolled down _his_ cheek as _he_ tried to look for something, or for someone:

-Lan Zhan… Please… (_His_ voice was suddenly reduced to a sobbing whimper) A Yuan… Please, save him…

Lan Wangji's heart tightened in his chest and he nodded, still stroking_ his_ long dark hair:

-I will.

-Promised?

-Hm. Promised.

A weak light brightened _his_ eyes for a brief moment, then _he_ even managed to smile. _His_ breath became hesitant, weaker and weaker. And as Lan Wangji kept on humming, cradling _him_ in his arms, the breath suddenly stopped caressing his neck.

Lan Wangji's heart froze and his voice broke.

_Wei Ying is gone._

The voice in his head couldn't stop repeating those same words like a broken record.

_Wei Ying is gone._

But he couldn't accept it. He couldn't.

_Wei Ying is gone._

It couldn't be happening. Wei Ying couldn't die.

_Wei Ying is gone._

Except it was. And Wei Ying was gone.

$s$s$s$

Lan Wangji never really recalled how he managed to go back to the Cloud Recesses after the Burial Mound tragedy. Days passed without Lan Wangji noticing: everything was just clouded by pain. Days became months, months became years, but the pain in his heart would not leave him alone. With time, he had found ways to ease his pain, to make the real life more bearable even without Wei Ying in it. He stored Emperor Smile jars in his rooms, drank a cup every evening to try to get some sleep, too dream of Wei Ying, of saving him, of bringing him back to the Cloud Recesses like he wanted to.

All the disciples and elders present at the Cloud Recesses knew that there was something going on with Lan Wangji. They saw him less and less, he was skipping night hunts and important meetings. But even though everyone knew, only Lan Xichen worried enough to regularly visit his brother to try to cheer him up:

-Wangji, this cannot go on any longer. You have to participate in the Sect's life. Everyone needs you to put yourself together. They need you. (He let out a pained sigh) I need you.

Lan Wangji didn't look up when he answered with a distant tone, as if it wasn't about him:

-You're an excellent Sect leader, you have your sworn Brothers supporting you: you don't need me. No one does. And I don't need anyone either.

_I don't need_ _anyone but him._

Lan Wangji knew his words were hurting his brother, but since that fateful night he couldn't bring himself to make more efforts. The only moments he managed to care about others' feelings were when he was taking care of this child he had found and saved four years ago. It was the only thing that mattered, the only thing that got him up in the morning when all he wanted to do was to sleep and to never wake up.

That boy was more than a mere disciple, he was more than the Wen Sect's last survivor, it wasn't simply a way to openly provoke his uncle (even though said uncle thought it was the child's only purpose). That boy was the one Wei Ying brought everywhere with him, the boy Wei Ying had called "his", the boy Wei Ying considered his son. That boy was the only legacy Lan Wangji's love had left behind. That boy was _his_ boy. _Their_ boy. And Lan Wangji wanted to do his best to accompany him in life, to protect him, to show Wei Ying the child had nothing to fear with him by his side. The boy he renamed Sizhui was safe with him.

With his love gone, Lan Wangji didn't need anything else than taking care of A Yuan during the day and dreaming of Wei Ying at night, guided by the alcohol he kept in his room.

Lan Xichen bit his lower lip and put a hand on his brother's shoulder:

-Wangji, I know you are in pain but I am here for you and I want to help you. Tell me what I can do to make you feel better?

Lan Wangji knew his brother wanted to help, that Lan Xichen wanted to be here for him and to support him. After all, he had been doing so for four years now. However, Lan Wangji could only answer softly:

-There's nothing you can do.

He himself had already tried everything. He had gone back to the Burial Mound, he had looked for signs, he had played Inquiry for hours to try to contact Wei Ying's spirit,... After these sessions, his finger and his guqin's strings were covered in blood, but the o-so-loved voice never answered his call. Not even once.

Lan Xichen also knew all of this, but he wanted to help. He had to help:

-Is there anything you need?

_Wei Ying_.

-Anything that would make you happy?

_To see him again_.

Lan Xichen already knew the answers to his questions as he perfectly knew why his brother was suffering. He knew the contempt and disgust Lan Wangji felt towards the Sects, they who condemned Wei Ying. But even though he wanted to try his best to help his brother, he knew he couldn't help him. He hated to admit it but his pitiful attempts to make Lan Wangji smile were in vain. However, no matter how impossible it was, Lan Xichen kept on trying, and Lan Wangji was grateful for that. So he answered as peacefully as possible, unable to lie about his feelings:

-I know you want to help me, and I'm truly grateful. But there is nothing you can do. The only thing that could relieve me from the pain would be deat-...

-Wangji!

There was horror in Lan Xichen's voice, as if he refused to hear the sentence's last word, as if he feared to hear it:

-Please, don't say that.

They stared at each other for five long seconds, five seconds of eternity. The resigned look of the younger one supporting the trembling and terrified eyes of the older one:

-Please, Wangji. Don't say that. Don't do this to me. Please.

Lan Wangji couldn't answer, couldn't loosen his lips. Couldn't lie to his brother nor hurt him by finishing his sentence:

-I'm sorry, brother.

Another few seconds of silence, the quiet noise of a hand rising to meet a shoulder or a cheek,... Discreet steps grew closer to te pavilion and a muffled voice arose:

-Hanguang-Jun?

At the sound of that quiet and peaceful voice, a warm wave of real affection rose in Lan Wangji's heart and his face instantly relaxed as his face got brighter (even though only Lan Xichen could notice this subtle change in his brother's attitude):

-Come in Sizhui.

The door quietly opened and a young boy walked into the room, politely greeting both Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen. He was smiling and he was carefully holding a white ball of fur in his arms:

-I found this little one in front of your room as I arrived for my lesson. I think it wanted to greet you, Hanguang-Jun.

-Hm. (Lan Wangji nodded as he received the rabbit and carefully put it on his laps) Are you ready for the guqin lesson then?

The boy nodded and sat behind the second guqin of the room, eager to learn and ready to follow his teacher's instructions. Lan Xichen understood the boy's arrival had marked the end of his conversation with his brother. With a silent sigh and a polite smile, putting on his peaceful mask, he got up and observed Lan Wangji one last time. But his brother wasn't looking at him anymore, was focused on the child only. So, Lan Xichen encouraged both student and teacher and left the room.

A pure and touching melody quickly echoed outside the pavilion, and was Lan Xichen observed the two of them in secret through the big circular window, he closed his eyes and let out this too-long kept sigh. This child had really become Lan Wangji's_ raison d'être_, his will to live. For Sizhui was the only bound between Wangji and the one he couldn't stop loving.

In the pavilion, guided by the sound of the two guqins, Lan Wangji closed his eyes and finally felt relief arise in his chest, as if Wei Ying sat beside him, listening to their song with a bright smile on his face:

-_Thank you, Lan Zhan_.

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And that's it for now! I hope you liked this short fic (and that my English wasn't too terrible :s) and I'll see you soon (the next chapter of Dystopia should arrive soon and I will surely write more MDZS stuff :)) Thanks for reading this fic and I'll see you soon! :D


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